THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL|8A
PANTER
13
511
Team will get good TV exposure
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2010
Twenty-three of the team's 31 regular season games will be broadcast on television this year.
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 10A
FULL SPEED AHEAD
Team expects to be faster this year
Senior guard Tyrel Reed is one of the quickest players on a fast Kansas roster. Reed said the athleticism on this year's team reminded him of the 2007-2008 national title-winning team. Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
BY TIM DWYER
tdyer@kansan.com
twitter.com/UDKbasketball
Marcus Morris is excited about this year. Let him tell you why:
"Lot more show time, lot more dunks, lot more ESPN."
Marcus Morris said the difference may be most noticeable on defense.
"I think we can be faster," Reed said. "Not saying Sherron and Cole were slow, but I think we can be faster not running through two guys every possession."
Morris said he thinks the Jayhawks' athleticism in the starting lineup surpasses last year's, no knock to Cole Aldrich intended. With athletes littering also coming off the bench, the Jayhawks just might be scary quick.
The Jayhawks this year will be able to utilize their athletes in a frenetic, up-tempo offense and a full-court trap defense. None of the players know if it will happen — and Bill Self was too occupied with the recruiting trail for The Kansan to reach him — but a lot of them are expecting a quicker pace of play.
for faster team performance.
Taylor, who is arguably the quickest player in the Big 12, may stand to benefit the most from a more breakneck pace. At times last year, Taylor appeared to be ahead of the pace of the game because of his natural speed with the ball in his hands. If the pace of the game adjusts to his speed, it stands to reason that the turnovers that have plagued Taylor could be cut down.
Senior guard Tyrel Reed expects the same, but explained the difference between last year's team and this year's a bit more.
"Us three guys," junior guard Tyshawn Taylor said of himself, sophomore Elijah Johnson and freshman Josh Selby, "and even our frontcourt, those guys with Markieff and Thomas and Marcus. I think it's just going to be a whole lot faster team, period."
pugnantly tazed.
"That's my style, man," Taylor said. "I like to get up and down. That's my thing. I think it's going to be fun. It's going to be interesting to see how this thing happens."
"I think without Cole and having Keef at the five and having T-Rob coming in, we're going to be a lot quicker in coming off ball screens and being able to trap and sometimes switch with the five," he said. "Keef can guard and T-Rob can guard, so I think we'll be a lot quicker on the perimeter."
set on the perimeter Sophomore forward Thomas
fast from the beginning, so for us to have a more athletic team from top to bottom just put us right where we want to be," Robinson said.
Mariah Montgomery, a sophomore infielder from Ralston, Neb. slides home safe Wednesday night at Arrocha Ballpark. The Jayhawks beat Johnson County Community College 16-1 in an exhibition match. The Jayhawks racked up 15 hits against the Cavaliers.
Robinson said he doesn't think the game plan will change — Self always wanted to play up-tempo last year, he said — but the team this year is more geared to play to those strengths.
Reed said the ability to go from one through five without a significant drop-off reminded him of another team he played for at Kansas. One that won a national championship.
"Coach Self wanted us to play
the standpoint that we have a lot of guys that can go and go get scores and do their own thing. We're all unselfish, and I think that's kind of the way they were."
"Id say, being here in '07-08, yeah, it definitely does look a lot more like it." Reed said. "Just from
— Edited by Clark Goble
With two wins, Jayhawks start season strong
SOFTBALL
BY BLAKE SCHUSTER bschuster@kansan.com
KANSAS VS.
JOHNSON
COUNTY
Coming off a 10-0 win against Baker in the practice season opener, the Jayhawks looked to continue their winning streak, taking the field against Johnson County Community College Wednesday night. The Jayhawks won 16-1.
16 - 1
night. The Jayhaws struck first, going up 2-0 after a homerun by senior outfielder Liz Kocon to right field in the bottom of the first inning, with a runner on second. In the next inning, the Jayhawks chased Johnson County's starting pitcher Lynna Kays after adding eight more runs onto their lead on six hits.
NEXT GAME:
WHO: Kansas vs.
Seminole State CC
WHEN: Saturday, 11 a.m.
WHERE: Lawrence
runs onto then lead to
The Jayhawks lost the shutout in the third inning after an error by KU led to a run scored by the Cavaliers. That would be the only run scored against Kansas for the rest of the game.
The layhawk pounced on the Cavaliers, totaling 16 runs on 15 hits with two errors. The Cavaliers totaled one run, three hits and six errors.
In only their second practice game of the season, the layhawks already looked to be in mid-season form, both on offense and defense.
One of the main elements con
to challenge your leadership.
"We really try to make it a focus for us at practice, to really work on that base running so we can utilize that during our games this season," Smith said.
The layhawks were very attentive on the pads, stealing bases at appropriate times and getting good leads which turned into runs scored.
tributing to KU's win was smart, effective base running, according to coach Megan Smith.
Complimenting the base running was the hitting clinic put on by the Jayhawk batters.
Sophomore outfielder Rosie Hull helped ignite the team's offense, accounting for three RBIs including a run scored.
The role of closing out the game belonged to sophomore pitcher and outfielder Alex Jones. With the slaughter rule about to take effect, Jones stepped to the mound in the seventh inning looking to get the job done.
"It was awesome," Hull said on her offensive night. "My normal role on the team is a slapper, and my job is to just get on base, so I don't get a lot of RBI's. To come up in the situation and perform just felt really great."
She finished the game, retiring the side in three consecutive batters. After the game Jones commented on the backup her team gave her while she took control of the mound.
I know that my defense is gonna back me up if the ball is put in play, but I was feeling it tonight, and I just felt really good and the defense did step up when they needed to," Jones said.
Edited by Michael Bednar
The Jayhawks take the field next on Saturday with double header action against Seminole State Community College and Washburn at Arrocha Ballpark.
COMMENTARY
1
Gill's new rules fit with his message
BY KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
From the start, football coach Turner Gill has talked about how he wants to not only help players on the field, but off the field as well. He wants to shape them to become good men, good husbands and good fathers. To me this seems like a very noble goal. He accepted a job which he knew would be difficult with new athletes and a new coaching staff at a program which was divided after a dramatic off-season. Because of this I think the transformation of the players is especially important when the team has shown trouble transforming as a whole.
elements. Gill has defended these changes as ways of keeping distractions away before games, which is a completely valid point. Although the rules may sound odd at first, they start to make sense when you think about how distracted the average person is by his or her phone or the opposite sex.
Change is not instant for any program, but in athletics there are unique challenges because players are only eligible to play for the university for four years, and within those four years, as Kansas fans have seen, the players can experience highs from winning the Orange Bowl to lows where there is coaching changeover. This season has been and will continue to be frustrating for fans and the team because the elements of the game do not seem to be coming together for the Jayhawks right now, but that too will change.
Another thing that really stood out to me about these rules was how they fit in to "forming the man," which is one of Gill's goals. These rules, while they take away distractions, also seem to take away some of the traditional football stereotypes of big tough guys who curse and womanize whenever the opportunity arises. I am by no means saying that any player actually fits that stereotype, or that Gill's rules have made a change, but on paper they sound good.
The last one stood out to me as most interesting because the first thing I thought of was a line from the 1975 film "Rocky" Rocky is training for a heavyweight title bout when his trainer Mick tells him he cannot see his girlfriend anymore because, "women weaken knees." This was not Gill's reason exactly, but there are some common elements.
too will change.
Along with new names and faces Gill brought new rules just as any coach would do to keep his team focused and in line. Three of the biggest changes are the new rules on not cursing in the locker rooms or on the field, not using telephones the night before a game and not seeing women after 10 p.m. on any night.
The way I see it, Gill is not going to turn this program and its reputation around dramatically within a year, which is to be expected. But what he can do is start to change the reputation of the athletes. Some reporters have said that this will hurt recruiting, but I think if Kansas' trademark is producing well respected young men, that is not a bad reputation to have.
Especially if the success on the field follows.
Edited by Tim Dwyer